BRITAIN: LAND OF HOPE, GLORY & BUBBLE DERIVED BOLLOCKS

Liam Halligan – one of the few hacks at the Torynaff I’m still prepared to read – offers a piece today in which he quite rightly argues that Labour’s new leader Jeremy Corbyn is at his best deconstructing the Tory Party’s utterly mendacious version of how the British economy is faring. But in the midst of such wise thoughts, he drops a clanger like this: (my emphasis)

‘With the relatively moderate Hilary Benn having just been ousted, there’s now a pro-Corbyn majority on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee. Corbynites are wresting control of the party machine from the more sensible centre-Left‘

Liam thinks the soft Left more sensible because it buys into the ‘reality’ of the Thatcher economic sea change; and he adds this bubble-dwelling nonsense: ‘the UK today is by no means a place where people “take what they’re given”. The British, on the contrary, tend to go to work each morning, earn their money, often start businesses and strive to improve the lot of themselves and their families. Enterprise and self-reliance are central to this country’s identity, hard-wired into us.’

That isn’t true of the British and it never was; it was only ever true of a tiny band of post-agrarian aristocrats nouveaux in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the independent shopkeeper about whom Napoleon Bonaparte was so hopelessly wrong. The central myth of Thatcherism is that Britain is choc-a-bloc with folks just gagging to be the next Alan Sugar. Today, all the famous entrepreneurial and innovative corporate names from our industrial revolution are gone forever – either sold to unpleasant multinationals or rendered sclerotic by third-rate, third-generation management. If you can see any new mega-groups emerging from a standing start in vehicles, technology, media, banking, energy and all the other controlling interests in 21st century UK life, then you have better eyesight and foresight than I.

The overwhelming majority of Britons today take what they are given because they have no choice, or – even worse – zero discernment about what really matters in life.

The statistics are there for anyone to see: those at the very bottom of society have made a 1.0-2.5% gain in funds, those from the old skilled working class have lost 13% in the last ten years alone, a minority of merchant and retail independents have found lucrative niches selling to the Daft Rich ( but most others have gone to the wall), the old have gone backwards on almost every real measure, and corporations have vastly increased their power. Those individuals ripping off the old public sector and milking the capital research base of former nationalised giants and contemporary multinationals have rocketed into the standard 3 – 5% who spend more on lunch each day than most of those at the bottom get in monthly salary.

Britain’s tiny top slither of 1% shovers and makers have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest 55% of the population. Household wealth in the south-east has risen five times as fast as the rest of the country. Five billionaire families control the same wealth as 20% of the population. The bottom 50% of the country’s citizens own just 9% of the wealth.

Above all, the blindingly obvious piece of history that gives the lie to Halligan’s silly assertions is that Britain was the first nation in the world whose mass workforce of employees (not Grant Shapps clones) organised to create democratically elected socialist administrations with genuine power. France and Australia may offer historians the first Commune and the first socialist Prime Minister, but by 1924 Britain had a minority Labour Government – and the work of Attlee’s 1946-51 team created a State welfare and health system that became the envy of the world.

What has given Britain its stability since Cromwellian and Restoration times is a unique feature: the ability to learn – via various Reform Acts and Rule of Law continuity – how to avoid the mistakes of both revolution and privilege. From 1640 until 1979, it worked to the citizens’ advantage better than in any previous Empire or Commonwealth. Since then we have lost this.

The reality of such loss is apparent in the myriad symptoms we see in today’s far from United Kingdom: wealth inequality, extreme views about gender and equality ‘correction’, acceptance of socially irresponsible profit, the rise and rise of the unapologetic greedy arsehole, alignment with a blatantly fascist EU, wholesale abandonment of the Rule of Law, flagrant perversions of equality before the Law, tabloid cruelty, and above all the headlong rush towards sociopathic corporatocracy.

The only defence the repressed in society can fall back upon now is media-distracted apathy and the revival of extreme Left ideology that failed before. It failed for the same reason that extreme Right ideology will fail in the immediate-term future: denialism about the realities of Man the social animal – his frailties, wiring, bigotries, fears and preference for family life over corporate and State denialism.

I confess to tiring of writing about this. And I absolutely despair when a Conservative Conference tweeter tries to tell us that Britain is Great because there are no French Rolling Stones or German Beatles.

John, here you go again, ranting from the left wing which is where you were always the most comfortable.
The Tory party conference has wound up a lot of people today, because success is now firmly on the horizon with the policies concerning infrastructure financed by public sector pension funds firmly on the agenda.
As I’ve pointed out before, men with big egos have small shrimp penises, so get over it ….and don’t confuse Liam Halligan’s comment on Blair’s centre left policies with any other misconstrued drivel . Halligan is a knowledgeable – and qualified – economist. That’s me banned again!!! OK you win shrimp dick!! LOL..!!!

Only thing I have seen on the current Tory party conference are two episodes.

1. where some Tory was trying to denounce protests because we have just had an election, but the lying Tories have broken so many promises BUT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PROTEST ABOUT THIS let alonge with new rules you can’t even kick them out.

2. Some snotty nose kids saying we will not be intimidated by the protests because in their eyes it is wrong but my point in 1. has no bearing on the issue.

Then it becomes undewrstandablew where Corbynomics gathers ground … if the Tories stopped lying and breaking promises Corbynomics ain’t got a leg to stand on … but it does because of 1. & 2., the second more the arrogance of elites.

The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the first gate,we must ask ourselves,” Are these words true?” If so, we let them pass on; If not back they go without release. At the second gate we ask
“Are these words necessary?” At the last gate we ask, “Are they kind?”.

Two survivors from the 1935 FT 30 share index, Tate and Lyle, and GKN, no Google, Facebook type companies to replace the myriad of companies sold to foreign buyers (that would take a long term view), goodbye Cadbury Schweppes, Rowntree Mackintosh,the City merchant banks, the insurance business sector, the utilities….

Ricoh
You’ve committed so many Slog thread offences over the years, I really do wonder whyTF you’re still here and trying in vain to goad me. My blog, my rules: personal insults will get you banned, last warning. Which bit of this entirely reasonable view do you not understand?

On a day were to get notoriety many prominent people have said things they will regret because their drunk on power & five years of little opposition to that ultimate power Ricoh you have shown that you’re a blonker a unchristian fowl mouthed blonker at that

Absolutely. And these protests outside the conference are a sign of a political party that is no longer in touch with anyone in the country outside its narrow clique, and a media that has abjectly and deliberately failed to represent its readers or explore the issues.
The Tories are not in fact to blame for the flatlining economy – this is part of a general and irreversible decline in the western economies – but they are clearly completely oblivious to the reality of it. It is an insult to most people in the country to listen to the glib assumptions that the majority are able to enrich themselves – when for most it is a struggle just to keep their heads above water.

You insist 19 Arabs with box-cutters downed three buildings. You insist 12,000,000 slaves were gassed by the German-Nazis. They would’ve built the best Defenses ever. After 6 yrs, you got 9000 regulars. And you bitch like hell when you have a computer problem!. You really think you are important! You are worthless. Proof? You are still on-line!

Your rant gave me a much needed laugh this evening. I can’t decide which is funnier, the “success is now firmly on the horizon” bit, or the “knowlegeable – and qualified – economist” line . I can only conclude that your entire comment is a wind up. (Not sure why you would be familiar with the sexual organs of those with big egos and aquatic crustaceans, but I will bow to your obvious experience in such matters.)

@TbS I’d like to agree with everything you’ve posted on this blog… I’d like to but I’m not insane yet ! I suggest that you go and start up your own blog where your followers can giggle and dribble over their screens whilst rocking themselves into a happy and ecstatic stupor.

“What has given Britain its stability since Cromwellian and Restoration times is a unique feature: the ability to learn – via various Reform Acts and Rule of Law continuity – how to avoid the mistakes of both revolution and privilege. From 1640 until 1979, it worked to the citizens’ advantage better than in any previous Empire or Commonwealth. Since then we have lost this.”

Yes spot on John. I once expressed my admiration for the French who don’t take things lying down to a French bloke who told me we Brits have a better tradition of pragmatism. You’re right we lost it in 1979. I’d argue it was earlier in 1971 when we lost the Gold standard. Most of the 1970s industrial unrest was now we know how they operate achieved through agents provocateurs.

Why do I suspect that you are really a Zionist attempting to discredit those of us who suspect Israeli/Likud involvement in 9/11 by conflating such evidence-based ideas conclusions with the rest of your incoherent rant. BTW is Zionist excrement special? Is it exceptional excrement by any chance?